


Wolf Creek

by BeccaAnne814



Series: Marvelous Men of Montana Saga [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Angst, Death, F/M, Fire, Fluff, Funeral, PG-13 sexual situations, Surgery, cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 10:13:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11484237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaAnne814/pseuds/BeccaAnne814
Summary: You and Steve were supposed to have spent the rest of your lives together, but lies and betrayal tore you apart.  A family tragedy forces you to leave your life in the city and return to the Montana ranch you used to call home. Can you and Steve forget the past and find love again?  Part 1 of the Marvelous Men of Montana Saga.





	1. Chapter 1

The oversized light above your head beat down on the back of your neck, the heat emanating from it forming small beads of sweat that ran down your back as you leaned over the man laying before you.  When most people said that they had someone's heart in their hands, they were referring to love.  For you it was a little different.  When you said you had a man's heart in your hands, you literally had his heart in your hands.

The OR nurse walked up beside you with a metal basin of ice.  You reached into the basin and pulled out the donor heart that had been flown in from San Francisco an hour ago.  All you knew about the donor was that he was a 28 year old man that had died in a car accident.  You offered a silent prayer of thanks to him and his family for deciding to give the gift of life amidst a time of tragedy for them.

You carefully cradled the life-giving organ in your hands as you transferred it from the basin into the open chest cavity of the patient laying on your table.  Your nurse handed you your sutures and you began the process of attaching the heart.  You started with the aorta, your small, precise stitches starting from the back and going around the vessel until you came full circle.  Next, you stitched the superior and inferior vena cava and finally the pulmonary arteries and veins.  Once you'd finished, you gave a nod to the resident beside you and he switched off the bypass machine.

You held the new heart in your hands, lightly massaging it as the entire room waited with bated breath to see if the patient's body would accept the new organ.  A few seconds went by as you continued to massage the heart, but so far, nothing.

"Sandy, charge the paddles to 200j," Dr. Sloan, your fellow attending requested of the OR nurse beside him.

You kept your eye on the heart monitor beside you as you continued to squeeze.  "Give it a second, Mark.  It's going to start on its own, I can feel it."

Mark stood beside you, the hand-held paddles in his hands, charged and ready to go if needed.  You felt the heart quiver as blood started rushing into the ventricles.  You watched as the little green line on the monitor wavered for a second before spiking into that familiar rhythm you loved to see.  As the numbers started to rise, 16, 38, 59, and finally holding steady at 74bpm, you let go of the beating heart and turned toward your resident.  "Would you like to close up, Dr. Yang?"

You stepped away from the table, your eyes meeting Mark's as Cristina Yang began the procedure of closing Mr. Frampton's chest cavity.  The two of you doffed your gloves and gowns as you exited the OR to scrub down before visiting the family in the waiting room.

"Excellent work in there, (Y/N)," Mark complimented you as he leaned over the giant sink, scrubbing his arms all the way up to the elbow.

You gave him a smile as you mirrored his actions.  "Thanks, Mark.  You know this is my favorite part of my job."

After drying yourselves off, you made your way to the waiting room to let the family know that the surgery had been a success.

Mrs. Frampton jumped to her feet as she saw you and Mark enter the room.  "How is he?  Is Bill okay?"

You gave her a warm smile as you took her hands in your own.  "Mr. Frampton came through the surgery just fine.  He's on his way to the recovery room right now.  As soon as he is awake, you can go back and see him.  Dr. Sloan and I will be by in a few hours to talk to you both."

Eleanor gave you a bone-crushing hug as tears formed in her eyes.  "I can't thank you enough, Dr. (Y/L/N).  You are an angel sent from heaven."

You left her with her son and daughter, the three of them embracing in a group hug as you and Mark exited the waiting room.  You started walking toward the attending's lounge, but Mark stopped at a door a few feet from the lounge.  Turning the knob, he opened the door and peeked in.  Seeing that the room was empty, he walked in backwards, pulling you with him.

He had just pushed the door closed and flipped the lock when you wrapped your arms around his neck and fitted your mouth to his.  The next few minutes were filled with moans of pleasure and gasps of surprise as the two of you frantically ripped the scrubs from one another's bodies.  

Once you'd managed to finish undressing one another, Mark picked you up and carried you to the small bed in the corner.  He unceremoniously dropped you to soft surface, causing a peel of laughter to erupt from you as he let out a small growl, and covered you with his muscular body.

You and Mark had discovered in the first few weeks of your internship, so many years ago, that the best way to come down from the high of performing surgery was to find release in a different form.  Neither one of you were in love with the other, in fact, you were the best of friends.  You weren't sure if the physical side of your friendship made you better surgical partners, or if operating together made you better lovers.  Either way, there were no strings, just pure gratification.  With the hours the two of you kept, there wasn't much time for complicated relationships, and this arrangement worked well for the both of you.

Afterward, the two of you lay tangled together on the small, twin-sized bed, desperately trying to catch your breath.  This was the moment you both enjoyed most, no talking, no thinking, just basking in the afterglow of amazing sex.  You could have lain there forever, but eventually the real world came calling.

You heard the buzzing from one of your pagers somewhere on the floor in the pocket of a pair of scrub pants.  "Are you getting up to look, or am I?

"You look," Mark mumbled.  "I'll enjoy the view."

You smacked his arm as you disentangled yourself from him and rummaged through the clothes.  It was your pager that was going off, and when you flipped it over to read the message your heart sank.  "I've got a 911."

Mark jumped up and the two of you hurriedly got dressed as you raced from the on-call room, hoping that something hadn't happened to Mr. Frampton.  You raced to the nurses' station in the cardiac ICU wing and asked the first nurse you saw what the emergency was.

"Dr. (Y/L/N)."

You turned around to find the chief of surgery, Dr. Bailey, looking at you with a guarded expression on her face.  "I need you to come with me.  Dr. Sloan, maybe you should come, too."

Realizing that Mr. Frampton was fine, you were puzzled at why Dr. Bailey had paged you and why she wanted to see you and Mark in her office.  Surely she wasn't going to chastise the two of you for your relationship at the stage of the game.  You and Mark may have toed the ethics line with your affair, but as far as you knew, your arrangement hadn't interfered with your ability to perform your duties in all of the years it had been going on.

Miranda shut the office door behind you and gestured for the two of you to sit.  "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you, (Y/N)."

You sat in the chair, your heart sinking as you struggled to think of what she could be talking about.  Mark grabbed your hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze as Miranda ran her hands over her face, trying to find the words she needed to say.  "I just got a call from Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.  Your father had a heart attack earlier today."

"Daddy had a heart attack," you repeated in shock.  "Is he okay?  Is he in surgery?  Who's operating?  What do we know about him?"

Miranda held up a hand to stop your onslaught of questions.  "I'm sorry, (Y/N).  He didn't make it."

Mark was out of his seat in a flash, pulling you into his arms as the tears began pouring down your cheeks.  You couldn't believe what Miranda was telling you.  There was no way that your father was dead.  

Mark rubbed your back as your body was racked with sobs, the grief spilling out of you noisily.  He finally picked you and carried you to the small sofa on the other side of the room, cradling you in his arms as he slowly rocked you back and forth until the tears had finally slowed to a trickle.  Miranda quietly exited the office to give the two of you a moment.

"What do you need, sweetie?" he asked.  "What can I do for you?"

"I need for you to go check on Mr. Frampton," you told him as his eyebrows crinkled in confusion.  "You need to go over his post-op care while I book a plane ticket and go home to pack."

"I'm sure Bailey can talk to the family, explain what happened.  I can make the arrangements, go with you to your apartment.  I don't think you should be alone right now."

You took Mark's face in your hands as you gently kissed his cheek.  "Thank you, you're the best friend in the world.  Right now, what I need is some time alone to process all of this.  I would feel better if you talked to Mr. Frampton, you were there in the OR, and you'll be able to answer his questions better than Miranda can."

You slowly got up off the couch and grabbed a couple of tissues from the box on the edge of Miranda's desk to dry your eyes.  Mark walked up behind and wrapped his arms around you.  "If that's what you want, you know I'll do anything for you.  You just have to ask."

You turned around to face him.  "I appreciate it, Mark.  I may just take you up on that.  I haven't been home in years, but I guess it's finally time I made it back to Wolf Creek, even if it is to say goodbye one last time."


	2. Chapter 2

You changed out of your surgical scrubs and made your way toward your car.  It had just started raining and you thought that the weather fit your mood perfectly at the moment.  You sat in your car, watching the water run down the windshield as the tears ran down your cheeks.  You thought of all the missed opportunities you'd had over the years to spend time with your father.  You hadn't been home since you'd left for college, and now regret was sitting heavily upon your heart.  Thankfully, he'd been to Seattle a few times over the years, so you'd had a chance to at least see him before he died.

You could have sat there all day, wallowing in your guilt, but you knew you had things that needed to be done.  Sitting here in the rain, feeling sorry for yourself wasn't going to do anyone any good.  You drove home on autopilot, a multitude of thoughts running through your head.  You needed to book a flight, pack some clothes, place a hold on your mail, and then once you got to Montana, arrangements for his funeral needed to be taken care of.  

You were lucky to find a flight that left in about four hours, so you booked it and started in on the other things you needed to do.  As you were leaving your apartment, you decided to call your Dad's best friend and lawyer, Tony, to let him know that you were on your way.  He was probably the person you would need to talk to about the funeral arrangements anyway, so this way, he'd have a heads up that you would be there in a few hours.

The phone rang a few times before you got his voicemail.  You left him a quick message with your flight details and asked him to call you after you landed.  Just as you hung up, you saw your Uber pull up to the curb.  Opening an umbrella, you made your way from the lobby of the apartment complex to the waiting car.

 

The flight was uneventful, and you were lucky that the seat next you had remained unoccupied.  The thought of having to make small talk with someone would have been just too much for you to handle.  

Once the plane had landed, you made your way through the airport to the baggage claim area.  You drew up short when you saw the tall, lanky brunette in worn out jeans and a pristine Stetson hat.  The blue-grey eyes lit up as he spotted you, a small smirk on his face when he noticed your reaction to his home-made sign.  In thick black marker, he written "Stuck-Up City Girl."

Shaking your head, you made your way over to your old friend.  "Bucky Barnes, what are you doing here, and why do you have that ridiculous sign?"

Bucky pulled you into a hug, his muscular arms almost crushing you.  "I wasn't sure you'd remember me."

"I couldn't forget you if I tried," you told him as you pulled away to look him in the eye.  "You didn't answer my question.  What are you doing here?"

"Tony called me and told me when your flight was landing.  He couldn't make it out here himself, so he asked if I could pick you up.  He figured you hadn't thought about how you were going to get to Wolf Creek."

Your eyes closed in frustration as you realized that there had been something you'd failed to take in consideration.  You'd gotten so used to public transportation and Ubers in Seattle that you'd completely forgotten those things didn't exist where you came from.  No one in their right mind would be willing to drive you and hour and a half from the airport to your father's ranch.  Thank goodness Tony had thought to arrange a ride for you.  You were a bit surprised that he'd asked Bucky, though.  You would have though he'd ask one of his adopted daughters.

"Thank you, Buck.  I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come to get me.  I a little confused, though, why didn't Tony ask Wanda or Nat?"

"The girls were at work, and since I'm in charge of the ranch now, it was no problem.  It'll give us a chance to catch up and I can fill you in on what you've missed these past few years."

The baggage turnstile began to spin and the luggage from your flight started moving toward you.  You recognized your bag and made a move to grab it, but Bucky was too quick.  You'd forgotten how chivalrous he was.  

"Is this all?" he asked, looking at the small bag in confusion.

"I'll probably only be here a few days, so I didn't bring much."

Bucky gave you a sad look before grabbing your hand and leading you to the parking lot, his other hand dragging your case behind him.  

The weather in Montana was so vastly different from Seattle.  It was hot and the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky.  You held your face up to the sun, letting the rays warm your skin.

"Don't get too much sun in the Emerald City?" Bucky asked as he tossed your suitcase in the backseat of his king cab Dodge Ram before helping you into the oversized truck.

You waited until he walked around the vehicle and took his seat before answering.  "We get some, but I'm usually in the OR, so I rarely get to see it."

"What's it like?" he asked as he put the truck in gear and drove out of the parking lot.  "You know, being a hot shot surgeon?"

"I love what I do, Bucky," you explained, glad to get your mind off of your father, if only for a moment.  "I can't even begin to explain how it feels to actually hold someone's life in the palm of your hand.  It's everything I'd always dreamed it would be."

Bucky glanced over as you spoke, a smile on his face as he listened to you talk about the surgery you'd just performed.  Bucky was full of questions and you were more than happy to talk about your work.  

Before you knew it, you were only about ten minutes from your family's ranch.  "I'm sorry, Bucky.  I've spent this entire drive talking about me."

"It's fine, doll.  I've loved listening to you talk.  Reminds me of when we were back in High School.  You were always telling one story after the other.  You would get so excited, the rest of us couldn't help but be captivated by you."

"I've missed you guys," you admitted quietly.  "I've missed so much these past few years.  I know I should have come home, but I. . . I just. . . I just couldn't bear to. . ."

Bucky reached over and grabbed your hand.  "I'm not trying to downplay your feelings, but that breakup was hard on us all, (Y/N)."

"I know.  We were all so close, but I just couldn't deal with it.  I couldn't stand the thought of coming back here and facing him after. . . well, you know."

"Honestly, doll, I don't know."

Your head shot up and your eyes went wide with shock.  "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"Ste. . . he never told us what happened.  Absolutely refused to talk about it.  Just said that the two of you broke up, end of story.  You never came back, and he's never mentioned it again."  Bucky gave you a questioning glance.  "What happened between the two of you?"

"I don't know, Bucky.  If he didn't tell you, then maybe I shouldn't either.  It's in the past and bringing it all back up now isn't going change anything."

Bucky turned right at the familiar fork in the road and stopped just under the sign leading to the ranch.  You looked up at the old wrought iron emblem that you'd seen every day for the first 18 years of your life.  On either side of a large circle were intricately curled flourishes.  Inside of the circle was the profile of a wolf, his head thrown back as if howling.  Under the wolf's neck was the jagged mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains with a small, winding river at its base.  On either side of his head were the words "Wolf Creek."

"Maybe not," Bucky acknowledged, "but there is something that you need to know before we go any further."

Bucky was always good at keeping a straight face, so the anxious look in his eyes instantly had you worried.  "What do I need to know?"

"You're not going to like this, (Y/N)," he began, refusing to look you in the eye.  "Your dad made Steve the ranch foreman five years ago."


	3. Chapter 3

A chill went down your spine as you stared at your friend, your eyes wide in disbelief.  "Please tell me you're joking."

"I'm sorry, doll, it's true." Bucky seemed to be debating with himself before finally giving in and continuing.  "I will tell you this.  Ste. . He was hesitant to take the job at first, but needed the money and Wolf Creek is one of the best.  Not as good as South Hills, but it's okay."

You slapped Bucky's arm and he pretended to hurt.  "Speaking of which, how is your place?  And your parents, how are they doing?"

"Well, South Hills is mine now.  Mom and Dad got up one morning and decided they were done ranching.  They bought an RV and they've been on the road ever since."  Bucky put the truck back in gear and started driving toward the main house a few hundred feet from the gate.

You shook your head in disbelief.  "Your parents took off like a couple of teenagers and you're running South Hills by yourself now?  I did miss a lot.  What I don't understand is why you didn't hire him to be your foreman."

"He had already been here for about three years and your dad threatened to skin me alive if I tried to poach him."  Bucky pulled up to the house and gave you a long look before continuing.  "You're going to have to call him by his name eventually, you know."

"No," you assured him.  "No, I won't because he won't be here long enough for me to deal with.  The first think I'm going to do is fire him and hire someone else."

"Well, if that's what you want to do, I guarantee there will be a line a mile long for the job."  He hopped down from the cab and pulled your suitcase out of the backseat before coming around and helping you out of the truck.  "If you need some help vetting some of the guys, let me know."

You took the case from him and pulled him into a hug.  "You're not going to try to talk me out it?"

He pulled back to look you in the eye.  "Since when have I ever tried to talk you out of something?  I may be a simple man, but I'm not stupid."

You gave him a friendly peck on the cheek before starting up the short flight of stairs to the front porch.  "No one would ever accuse you of being stupid, Bucky."

"Promise me you'll let me know if you need anything."

You ran your hand along the worn railing of the porch, your fingers gliding over the words and symbols you'd carved there years before.  Looking back up, you met Bucky's eyes again.  "I promise, Buck."

He tipped his hat toward you and climbed back into the truck.  Turning back to the house, you steeled your resolve and walked back into your childhood home.

You were surprised to see that absolutely nothing had changed since you'd been gone.  All of the same pictures hung on the wall, and the worn out furniture still sat in the same spots.  Walking up the stairs, you let yourself take a walk down memory lane as you saw your life from birth to college displayed on the wall leading to the second floor.  After your mother had lost her battle to breast cancer when you were twelve, the pictures started to dwindle.  Your dad had tried his best to make sure that the important moments were captured, he'd tried his best to raise a headstrong teenager by himself.  You had to admit that he'd done a pretty good job for a man who wasn't keen on showing emotions.  Even with his shortcomings, you'd never felt as though you weren't loved, that you weren't the center of his universe.

You stopped about three-quarters of the way up, knowing what awaited you near the top.  You dreaded seeing the rest of the photos, the photos that were exclusively just you and Steve.  Proms and homecomings, parades and county fairs, once the two of you got together it was as though nothing could tear you apart.  Or at least that's what you'd thought.

You took a steadying breath and forced yourself to continue walking.  You tried not to look at them as you rushed past, but his smile was just as captivating as you'd remembered, and before you knew what you were doing, you'd stopped and taken one down off of the wall.  The two of you were so young, so happy and in love.  You shook your head as you wondered when it had all started falling apart.  In all of the years since the breakup, you'd never been able to answer that question.  

Placing the photo back on the wall, you climbed the last few stairs and turned toward your bedroom door.  Your room had been at the back of the house, facing the wide open space that was your dad's ranch.  You used to sit by your window and dream of the day that you and Steve would be running this place.  You'd always wanted to be a doctor, so in your fantasy, you would come back from med school and take over for Dr. Banner as the town doctor.  You'd cast Steve as the ranch foreman, but when your dad retired, he'd take over and the two of you would live her forever.  It seemed as though Steve had followed through with his end of the plan.  It was just too bad that he hadn't wanted you here with him after all.

Opening the door, you found your room exactly the way you'd left it.  The quilt that your mother had made you still lay on the bed, and the shelves were still crowded with your barrel racing trophies.  The room had been dusted, so at least someone was taking care of the place.  You'd have to find out who was cleaning the house and make sure that they would continue doing so until you figured out what you were going to do with the ranch.

You tossed your suitcase on the bed and began to unpack.  You'd just laid your cosmetic bag on the vanity when a picture of you on your horse caught your eye.  You pulled it from mirror and ran your finger over the lines of the sleek black stallion your dad had bought you for your sixteenth birthday.  

Quickly checking over your shoulder, you saw that the sun hadn't quite set yet, so you decided to head out to the barn.  It would be good to check in with the ranch hands and make sure that nothing needed to be taken care, but you really wanted to go see your horse.

 

The barn, like the house, was exactly the same.  You stood in the doorway for a moment and breathed in that familiar scent of horse and hay before you heard the familiar snickering.  Shaking your head your feet automatically went to the fourth stall on the left.  Loki already had his head over the stall and was tossing his mane in excitement.  You leaned in and he laid his head on your shoulder like he'd always done when you were a kid.  The two of you had been inseparable since the day you'd seen him.

You felt a nudge on your other shoulder and looked up in surprise.  Thor was craning his neck over his stall, desperate to get your attention.  You were surprised to see him here, but since Steve was the foreman, it only made sense that his horse would have his own stall in the barn.  Reaching over, you gently ran your hand down his muzzle.

"I think they missed you."

You flinched in surprise, causing the horses to become restless and start stamping.  You held out a hand to calm them both back down as you tried to see who walking toward you.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

You tilted your head in confusion.  The dark haired man before you seemed to know who you were, but you didn't recognize him at all.  "It's fine, don't worry about it.  I'm sorry, but I can't seem to. . ."

"It's Grant.  Grant Ward."  He placed both of his hands in his back pockets causing his shirt to stretch tight across his chest.  

Your mind was struggling to reconcile the name to the man standing in front of you.  You hadn't been able to take your eyes off of the handsome cowboy, but he definitely wasn't the Grant Ward you remembered from High School.  That boy had been scrawny, with glasses, braces, and a really bad case of acne.  

"I'm sorry I didn't recognize you, Grant."

"It's alright," he assured you.  "I've changed a bit since we last saw one another.  You look amazing, by the way."

You self-consciously ran a hand down the wrinkled slacks you'd been in since you'd left Seattle.  "That's extremely nice of you to say."

"I'm also sorry about your dad.  He was well-loved around here and he will be missed."

"Thank you, Grant.  I'm still a little in shock, I guess.  Being back here, him being gone, it's a lot to take in.  It is good to see a familiar face, even if I didn't recognize you at first."

Loki came back to the front of the stall, having calmed down a bit, and Grant reached up to rub his muzzle as he started to reply.  Loki wasn't too keen on the idea of the cowboy stroking him and tried to bite his fingers.  Grant jumped back in surprise, his words dying on his lips.

"You should no better than to go near that horse, Ward."

Both you and Grant turned to see who had spoken and your heart began racing when you saw Steve standing in the doorway of the barn.

"I know, boss.  I just though that with (Y/N) here, he might not be too cantankerous."  He gave you a flirty wink.  "I guess he doesn't like to share."

"You should probably get back to work," Steve suggested as he started walking toward him.

"Absolutely, boss."  Grant turned back to you and tipped his hat in farewell.  "I hope we'll get a chance to catch up once things settle down around here."

"I would love that, Grant."  You kept your eyes on the lanky cowboy as he exited the barn.  One, you were enjoying the view, and two, you didn't know if you were ready to face Steve just yet.

"I'm sorry about your dad," Steve said, forcing you to finally focus your attention on him.

He had changed in years since you'd seen him last.  He'd always had a presence about him, but now he seemed bigger, stronger, and definitely more handsome.  He'd grown a beard and it definitely suit him.  You hated how everything about him flooded your senses, the look of him, the way he smelled, the way your body instinctively reacted to him being this close to you.

It took you a moment to register what he'd said.  You took a deep breath to clear your head before you answered him.  "Thank you."

He gave you a nod and started to walk away.  "Wait."  He turned back to you, his eyes suddenly unreadable.  "I need to talk to you."

He didn't say a word, waiting for you to continue.  You couldn't gauge his expression, but you still knew how to read his body language.  He was poised on the balls of his feet, a stance you knew indicated that he was ill at ease in this situation.  Good, you thought to yourself, I shouldn't be the only one uncomfortable.  

"Is there anything that needs taken care of with the ranch?  Something that can't wait?  Paychecks, feed bills, whatever?"

Steve visibly relaxed and you realized that he thought you wanted to talk about what had happened between the two of you.  He didn't need to worry about that, you had no intention of dredging up the past.

"Your dad had actually handed most of those duties over to me in the past year," he explained.  "I appreciate you asking though."

A spark of anger ignited within you.  He appreciated you asking?  He was acting as though this ranch was already his.  "What's that supposed to me?  Did you really expect me not to think about the people who work here, or the horses just because dad died?  I think you forget I pretty much ran this place while we were in High School."

"I didn't mean it like that, (Y/N)."

"Whatever, Steve," you snapped back at him as you started to storm out of the barn.  "Just don't get too comfortable around here.  Once I've taken care of Dad's arrangements, things are going to change around here."


	4. Chapter 4

The morning of the funeral dawned clear and bright.  You had called Tony the day after you arrived back home to see about the arrangements.  He had assured you that your dad had already pre-planned his entire funeral, all you had to do was pick out his clothes and choose a date.  You had chosen Saturday, and it was going to be a gorgeous day, the kind your dad would have loved.  It was late September, but this part of the state was experiencing an Indian Summer and the temperatures had yet to fall.  You were glad that you had packed one of your lighter-weight black dresses.

You had just grabbed a set of keys from the hook by the door when you heard the rumble of a Diesel engine coming down the drive.  You weren't the least bit surprised to see Bucky pulling up in front of the house.

Once he'd stopped and jumped down from the cab, he circled the truck and held the passenger side door open for you.  "Come on, doll, you should've known I wasn't going to let you go by yourself."

"I'm not going to hug you, even though I want to, because I don't want to start crying just yet."  You let Bucky help you into the truck and tried to focus on the scenery you were passing instead of thinking about where you were going.

 

The wake and funeral weren't as bad as you thought they were going to be.  Your dad looked amazing.  You'd picked out his favorite pair of "dressy" jeans and the blue and black flannel shirt he only wore on special occasions.  The boots and the hat were the ones he always wore because you knew he would have wanted them.  There were so many people you hadn't seen in years, and once the initial condolences were offered, you spent more time catching up with them than discussing your dad's last days.  

It also helped that your friends had come in full force to support you during the entire day.  You felt bad for not keeping in touch with Nat, Wanda, Maria, Sam, and Peter, but you were so glad they, and Bucky, were there.  The girls made sure that you had plenty of tissues and the guys took turns sneaking you cookies and glasses of water.  

Steve had respectfully kept his distance at the entrance of the church, talking with the mourners as they were entering and leaving.  Your observant eye caught on pretty quick that if the girls were with you, the guys were with him.  It was as if you and Steve were divorced and sharing custody of the kids.

The wake was almost over when you noticed that Steve had started walking toward you.  He had an unreadable expression on his face and you tried not to make eye contact, dreading the conversation you were about to have.  Steve had made it about halfway down the aisle when another brawny, bearded man grabbed your attention.  Seeing Mark rushing down the aisle toward you brought a sense of peace to the chaos of your soul.  A smile lit up your face and you began walking toward him, grateful to have his familiar, strong arms enveloping you.  Your face was buried in the crook of his shoulder, so you didn't see the look of disappointment on Steve's face.

"I can't believe you came," you mumbled into his suit jacket.

"I can only stay for about an hour and then I have to catch a flight back home, but I didn't want you to be alone today."

Raising your head, you gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.  "I don't know what I would do without you."

The graveside service was especially emotional.  Your dad had been a veteran, so there was a military color guard there to present you with a flag and perform the 21 gun salute.  Mark stayed with you until the service was over, but you decided to stay behind to watch as the coffin was lowered into the grave beside your mom.  After all of this time, they were finally reunited.

Picking up a handful of dirt, you let it slowly fall through your fingers onto the coffin.  Saying one last goodbye, you turned to find Bucky leaning against a tree, patiently waiting for you.  When you walked up beside him, he pulled you into his arms and for the first time that day, you broke down.

Bucky held you while the tears poured down your cheeks and once you were spent, he handed you his handkerchief and led you back toward his truck.

"I know you didn't want a big dinner after the service, but the crew wouldn't hear of you being alone this evening.  Peter ordered some pizzas and the girls picked up some beer.  They're all at the house waiting on us."

You thought about having a house full of company for a moment and decided that it might be a good idea for you to be surrounded by your friends for the rest of the day.  "That's fine, Buck.  It'll give us a chance to catch up."

Everyone had brought a change of clothes and were currently lounging in the family room, the pizza boxes stacked up on the coffee table like when you were still in High School.    For a moment, you'd wondered if Steve was going to among the group, and you were relieved to see that he wasn't in his usual spot on the corner of the couch.  A pang of guilt went through you as you thought about him being alone in the small foreman's cabin behind the barn.  His parents hadn't been the best while he was growing up and he'd spent more time at your house than he had his own.  Your parents had become like surrogates to him and you remembered how hard he'd taken your mom's passing so many years ago.  You knew he was just as distraught as you were right now.  You excused yourself for a moment to go change and collect yourself before you started crying again.

 

"Let me get this straight, Sam" you slurred after your fifth beer.  "You spent four years in the Air Force, then you came back here, and now you're the sheriff?"

"Yes, ma'am.  You wanna see my badge?" Sam didn't wait for an answer, reaching into his back pocket dramatically and flashing you the shiny silver star.

"This place has gone to hell since I left!"  You took a swig of beer as Sam, Peter, and Bucky began to strike Charlie's Angels poses, their beer bottles serving as makeshift guns, causing you to start laughing so hard that you began choking. 

"That's not even the most disturbing news," Nat teased as she leaned up against the recliner Wanda was currently sprawled in.

"What could be worse than Sheriff Sam Wilson?"

Nat looked toward Peter with a smirk on her face.  "Do you want to tell her, or should I?

Peter gave Nat a sour look before turning toward you.  "So, the recession hit and we couldn't make the payments on the ranch anymore."

"Oh, no!"  Your laughter immediately died as you though about Peter and his family losing Blackwater Falls.

He waved away your concern.  "It's fine.  I mean, it sucked at the time, but it all worked out.  We ended up selling most of the land.  We kept the house, the barn, and about 40 acres – the part with the actual falls, of course – and, well, we turned it into a summer camp for troubled kids.  The girls work with me, teaching kids how to ride and take care of the horses.  It's actually really great."

"Wait a second!"  You were having a really hard time processing this information with your current level of inebriation.  "You mean to tell me that Peter Quill, the Peter Quill that tried to sleep with every single girl in town is now spending all of his time with children?"

"It's crazy, right?  I mean, who would have thought I'd be any good with kids?"

Sam's hand shot up in the air immediately.  "Man, you have the mentality of a 10 year old.  Of course you're good with kids, you're the only adult that still thinks on their level!"

Sam was silenced by a well-aimed pillow to the face.  "Your words have cut me deep, my friend.  This means war."

"Oh, no," Nat, Wanda, and Maria all groaned simultaneously.  

Peter jumped to his feet and pulled his phone from his pocket.  "This conflict can only be solved with a dance off."  

Peter was obsessed with music from the late 70's and early 80's, so you weren't surprised when _O-O-H Child_ by The Five Stairsteps began playing and he began to dance – badly.  Dance offs were a common occurrence whenever all of you got together, so it wasn't long before you were all up and dancing around the room.   

When you could take no more, you fell back onto the couch.  Looking at all of your friends, you realized how much you had missed out on these past few years.  It hadn't been fair to push them all away after you and Steve had broken up, but you just couldn't imagine facing them all and trying to explain what had gone wrong.  Instead, you'd buried yourself in your studies and they'd eventually stopped calling and texting.  You could tell that they were still a tight knit group and it warmed your heart to know that they had put aside their feelings of abandonment to be there for you when you needed them the most.  Thinking about Steve reminded you again that he wasn't here – he was sitting all alone while you enjoyed the company of the friends you shared.

Bucky was the first to notice that you weren't smiling anymore.  "Hey, doll, what's the matter?"

Everyone stopped to look at you, their faces full of concern.  "I know this is going to sound strange, but. . . I can't stop thinking about Steve."  The six of them all shared a shocked glance with one another.  "Not like that.  I mean, he's sitting all by himself in that little cabin, and I know he's having just as bad of a day as I am.  Dad was more of a father to him that his own dad ever was.  I guess I just feel guilty for monopolizing all you after the way I treated you guys after the breakup."

Maria was the first to move, coming to sit beside you on the couch and pulling you into a hug.  "Oh, honey, don't feel guilty.  Steve was the one who actually suggested that we all come over tonight."

You quickly pulled back from her embrace, a shocked expression on your face.  "What?  Why would he do that?"

All of a sudden, the seven of them found the floor absolutely captivating as not a single one of them dared to meet your eye.  "What aren't you telling me?"

Everyone looked to Nat, knowing that she was the blunt one.  "Fine, I'll tell you.  Now, we don't know this for a fact, but all of us are pretty sure that Steve's still in love with you."

For a moment your heart began to swell at the thought of Steve still loving you, but you quickly discarded the thought with a shake of your head.  "I'm sorry to break this to you guys, but he doesn't love me.  If he suggested that you guys come over tonight, it wasn't love that drove that decision.  Anyway, it doesn't matter why he did it.  The fact remains that he's alone and there's plenty of us to go around.  Why don't the guys head on over there with the rest of the beer and us girls can stay here and hang out for a bit?"

"Are you sure about this, doll?" Bucky asked as he laid a hand on your shoulder.

"I'm positive, Bucky.  I know I shouldn't feel guilty, but I do.  We've had a great evening, but he needs you guys right now."

The guys nodded their agreement, said their goodbyes, and grabbed the rest of the beer before heading out the back door to Steve's cabin behind the barn.  The minute the door shut, the girls pounced on you.

"Ok, now that the guys are gone, spill the beans (Y/N)," Wanda demanded as she sat on the end of the coffee table in front of you.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, (Y/N)," Nat chided from her spot on the other end of the couch.  "Steve has been extremely tight-lipped about why you two broke up.  I don't even think he told the guys what happened."

"You're right about that," you confirmed.  "Bucky told me on the way from the airport that Steve never told him, and I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him when he asked.  I don't want to talk about it, especially not today.  This is the worst day of my life and I really don't want to spend it talking about the second worst."

"That's settled then,"Maria said as she looked at the other two women.  "If (Y/N) says it's in the past, it's in the past.  It's time we all just moved on.  Frankly, I'm interesting in learning more about Dr. McSteamy!"

You rolled your eyes at the ridiculous nickname Maria had come up with for Mark.  "He's just a friend."

It was Nat's turn to roll her eyes.  "Bucky is just a friend.  I saw the way your eyes lit up the second you saw your handsome doctor."

"So did Steve," Wanda muttered under her breath.

Your head whipped around to stare at Wanda in shock. "What did you just say?"

"You heard her just fine," Nat teased.  "And she's right.  Steve didn't look too happy to see you all cozied up to some stranger."

"Mark isn't a stranger," you tried to explain.  "We've been working together since we were interns."

" _Working together_?  Is that what the two of you call it?"  Maria had decided to get in on the teasing and she wasn't pulling any punches.  "Around here we still call it hot and steamy sex."

"Fine," you conceded.  "Mark and I have had an arrangement since we met.  He's my best friend and neither of us have time for a relationship.  There are no strings, and we're both happy to keep it that way."

The three women looked at one another knowingly.  Nat was the first to speak.  "You don't have time for a relationship, or you don't want to take a chance on getting hurt again?"

You inhaled sharply at her implication.  You were about to make a hasty retort, but thought better of it.  "I work 18 – 20 hour days most of the week.  Sometimes its rare for me to even see the inside of my apartment.  When I say I don't have time for a relationship, I mean I literally don't have the time."

"Well, now that you're back, you're going to have plenty of time," Maria said.

"What do you mean, 'now that I'm back'?  As soon as I go over the will with Tony and get things settled around here, I'm heading back to Seattle."

Wanda looked crestfallen.  "Are you going to sell Wolf Creek?"

"I honestly don't know," you said, shrugging your shoulders.  "I haven't really thought too much about it.  I know I need to hire a new foreman. . ."

"You're firing Steve?" Nat all but screamed at you.  "Why on earth would you do that?  He loves this ranch just as much as you?"

"Look, I know that he's your friend, but I just don't think he's cut out for this job," you explained.  "I've only been here a few days, and already I can see that things aren't running smoothly.  Just the other day the paddock was left open and half of the horses ended up in the back forty.  It took the guys almost two hours to round them all back up.  There have been other incidents, but they're all adding up.  I know that Steve is grieving, but we can't put the horses at risk because he's distracted."

The three women all shared another glance.  You were starting to get annoyed at them.  "What?"

"We've heard about these little incidents," Maria explained.  "They started happening right before your dad died.  Steve has been foreman for years and things like this have never happened before."

"Well, Dad's not here for me to consult, so I have to use my own judgement."

"Who are you thinking about hiring?" Wanda asked.

You closed your eyes and rubbed your eyes with the heels of your hands.  "I don't know.  I don't even know if I'm going to keep the ranch.  I'm trying not to think about it too much until after I know what's in Dad's will."  You looked back up at them, realizing that this conversation had ruined the jovial mood that the four of you had been enjoying.  "Can we not talk about this anymore?"

Maria patted your knee and gave you a smile.  "Sure, sweetie.  What would you like to talk about?"

"Well, since we were on the subject of men. . .when did Grant Ward become such a hottie?"


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone had ended up staying the night since none of them were sober enough to drive.  You'd gotten up before dawn to make breakfast, knowing that Bucky needed to get back to South Hills and Peter and the girls had chores and horses to feed at Blackwater Falls.  

Breakfast was a quiet affair, with lots of coffee to try to cure the raging hangovers you were all suffering.  Bucky offered to stay behind and help you clean up the kitchen since he had his own men to take care of things at his ranch.

"Thank you again for yesterday," you told him as you washed the dishes and handed them to him to dry.

"Doll, you don't have to thank me.  You know I'd do anything for you."

Your hands were covered in soap suds, so you had to use your shirtsleeve to dry the tears that had started to fall.  "I'm so sorry for pushing you away.  You're the best friend I've ever had and I've been so horrible to you these past few years."

Bucky put down the plate he was currently drying and pulled you into his embrace.  "You don't have anything to apologize for.  Neither of you may want to talk about it, but it's clear to me that Steve's the one to blame for this whole mess.  I don't know what he did exactly, but I have my suspicions, and I don't blame you for not wanting to come back.  I'm not happy that you shut us all out, but I get it.  You needed a clean break and you had Med School coming up."

"Thank you, Bucky.  You have no idea how much I needed to hear that."

 

After Bucky had left, you'd decided to ride Loki down to the creek like you used to do on Sunday afternoons.  The barn was empty and quiet as you made your way to his stall.  He could smell you coming and the sound of his nickering brought a smile to your face.

"Hey handsome," you crooned to the stallion as you rubbed his muzzle.  "You want to take a ride?"

"Don't mind if I do."

Your head shot up in surprise.  You gave a shake of your head when you saw Grant leaning against the tack room door with a smirk on his face.  "I was talking to the horse."

"A guy can dream, can't he?"

You were getting a bit flustered having this extremely handsome guy flirt with you.  How long had it been since someone flirted with you?  Mark didn't count because he was Mark.  It surprised you to realize how much you'd missed something as simple as a good looking man paying you a bit of attention.

"There's no law against dreaming."

"There may not be a law, but if you want to keep your job, I'd suggest you do your dreaming on your own time, Ward."

At the sound of Steve's voice, the lighthearted mood was shattered.  Grant straightened and tipped his hat to you.  "I hope you enjoy your ride, (Y/N)."

"Thank you Grant."

Grant gave Steve a wide berth as he exited the barn, and you could feel the tension in the barn thicken as the two men stared one another down.  

Steve began walking toward you, and you couldn't help but notice the way your heart skipped a beat when he began to speak.  "I was going to suggest that you take Loki out while you were here.  I try to ride him as much as I can, but he's more of a lover than a worker."

"What do you mean?  Doesn't anyone else ride him?"

Steve gave you an exasperated look.  "(Y/N).  We both know that horse is the most ornery son of a bitch that was ever foaled.  I'm surprised he even lets me ride him."

You scowled at Steve and turned back to your horse, your voice immediately reverting to baby talk as you stroked Loki's muzzle.  "Steve doesn't know what he's talking about, does he, baby?  You're the sweetest horse in the world."

"Only for you, (Y/N)," Steve said.  "But then again, you've always had that effect on the opposite sex."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Steve's eyebrow shot up in disbelief.  "You know exactly what I mean.  Coming in here, flirting with the ranch hands. . ."

"I've barely spoken to any of the ranch hands, so I can only assume you're referring to Grant," you interrupted.

He gave you a long hard look.  "I don't really care who you flirt with, but your boyfriend might."

Your mouth gaped open in shock, but before you could reply, he had already left the barn.  In a huff, you grabbed your saddle from the tack room, not really noticing that it had been cleaned recently.  Once Loki was saddled, you mounted him and took off at a gallop toward the western edge of the ranch.

 

Monday morning was cloudy and a strong wind had moved in overnight.  You were just pulling on a coat when you heard a knock on the door.  You tipped your head in confusion, wondering who would be knocking at the back door.

Opening the door, you were surprised to see Steve standing there, his clothes uncharacteristically clean, and his hat in his hand.  "What do you want, Steve?"

"I was wondering if you would like a ride into town?  It seemed a bit silly for us both to drive all that way in two vehicles."

You furrowed your brow, wondering how Steve knew you were going into town this morning.  "That's nice of you, but I don't know how long I'll be at Tony's office.  I'd hate to make you wait on me."

Steve gave you a puzzled look.  "I'm going to Tony's office, too.  Didn't he tell you?"

"Why are you going to Tony's. . .oh, I'm so sorry.  I didn't even think about daddy leaving you anything in his will.  Of course he left you something." 

Now that your confusion was cleared up, you were left with the thought of spending the next twenty minutes alone in a truck with Steve.  Awkward didn't even begin to cover how you felt when you were around him, but it would be rude to refuse his offer.

He'd been the perfect gentleman you'd always known him to be, opening your door for you and giving you a hand up into the cab of the truck.  Once he was was behind the wheel and he'd started driving, the cab seemed to grow smaller as the tension grew thicker.  You'd never been good at small talk, and it seemed ridiculous to discuss the weather with Steve when you knew there were other, important, topics that needed to be broached.  Today was not the day to start an argument, so you tried to think of something to say that didn't involve the two of you.

"He's not my boyfriend," you blurted.  The minute the words were out of your mouth, you regretted them.  The last thing you wanted to discuss with Steve was your current love life, but it was too late now.

"What?"

"Mark," you clarified.  "My friend from Seattle that came to the funeral.  He's not my boyfriend."

Steve gave you a disbelieving look out of the corner of his eye.  "You don't have to lie to me, (Y/N).  You're allowed to have a boyfriend."

His tone had you bristling with anger.  "I'm allowed to have a boyfriend?  That's so generous of you, Steve."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it."

You'd fought enough with Steve enough over the years to recognize the slow burn of his temper.  He rarely shouted, but when he was truly angry, his words could cut you to the core.  You could tell that he was trying to keep himself in check, but you'd always known which buttons to push and you just couldn't help yourself.

"Well, it sure as hell sounded like that's what you meant.  First you accuse me of flirting with Grant, and now you accuse me of lying to you about Mark.  You may not have realized it, Steve, but we're not together anymore and you have absolutely no say in how I live my life, or who I chose to live it with!"

The truck started veering toward the edge of the road as Steve suddenly jerked the wheel.  Once he'd come to a complete stop, he undid his seatbelt and turned toward you, anger pouring off of him in waves.  "I know we're not together anymore, (Y/N), and if you think for one minute I care about who you screw, then you're sadly mistaken.  I'm trying to run a ranch, and I don't have time for you to waltz into. . ."

"You can stop right there," you interrupted, undoing your seatbelt to turn toward him.  "Last time I checked, the ranch belongs to me, and if you want to keep your job, you'll remember that."

"Is that a threat?"

"You're damn right it is!"

The two of you had slowly inched closer to one another until you were right up in each other's faces.  The argument had your heart racing and being this close to Steve was causing you to feel things you hadn't felt in years.  A part of you wanted to smack him across his smug face and another part of you wanted to kiss him.  You couldn't be sure, but you thought he was feeling the same way.  

Taking a deep breath, you moved back to your side of the truck and fastened your seatbelt again.  "We're going to be late."

You refused to look at him for the rest of the ride into town and jumped out of the truck the second he pulled up in front of Tony's office.  You needed some space, if only for a few seconds.  You'd really hoped that you could make it through this trip without fighting with Steve, but you should have known better.

Pepper jumped at her desk as you stormed into the office.  "Is he ready for us?"  You barely waited for her nod before marching down the hall, anxious to have a moment to breath before you had to face Steve again.

Tony's eyebrows shot sky high as he tried to figure out why you were so agitated.  When Steve walked in behind you, looking just as irritated, Tony just smirked and shook his head.  "Shall we get this over with?"

"Please," you said as you shrugged out of your coat and laid it across the back of the chair before taking a seat.

Tony waited until Steve had taken the seat beside you before he began to open the envelop containing your father's will.  He began reading through the document, a basic boilerplate last will and testament.  Your father had bequeathed respectable sums to various organizations and charities that he'd always held in high regard.  You kept waiting to hear Steve's name mentioned, and you started to worry that Tony had been mistaken about your dad leaving him something.  When he got to the section regarding Wolf Creek, a feeling of dread settled deep within your gut.

"In regards to the 2,000 acres of land known as 'Wolf Creek,' I hereby transfer all deeds and titles to my daughter, (Y/N), if and when the following conditions are met."

Tony paused for a second, peeking over his glasses to gauge your reaction.  You'd started to feel a sense of relief until he'd read those last words.  Your mind went immediately to the worst case scenario.  Tony gave you a look of chagrin before glancing at Steve and continuing to read.

"Number one, (Y/N) must remain at Wolf Creek for one year.  Number two, Steven Grant Rogers must remain foreman.  Number three, (Y/N) and Steve must actively work together to keep the ranch running at its current profit margin.  If these conditions are met, (Y/N) will retain all ownership rights to the property, to do with as she see fit.  If these conditions are not met, all deeds and titles will transfer to Steven Grant Rogers."


	6. Chapter 6

Not waiting for Steve to say a word, you rose from your chair, threw on your coat, and walked out of the office.  You made it all the way outside before you remembered that you had come into town with Steve and you had no choice but to ride back with him to the ranch.

It was a few minutes before he exited Tony's office, and sensing your mood, he decided not to say anything as he opened the passenger side door of the truck for you.  You sat as close to the door as you could, wanting as much space between you and him as possible in the cramped confines of the cab.  You could feel his eyes on you every few minutes, but he remained silent as you stared out the window.

Steve pulled up to the front of the house and he'd barely put the truck into park when you jumped down and began striding toward the house.

"(Y/N)!" he called as he jogged toward you, his hand reaching out to grab your arm.  "Wait a second."

Jerking your arm free, you fixed him with a steely gaze.  "What?"

"Don't you think we need to at least talk about this?"

"I don't think there's anything to discuss.  Dad made his wishes crystal clear.  I need to get back to Seattle. . ."

"I don't want to leave things like this, (Y/N).  I have some money put aside, I know it's not near what Wolf Creek's actually worth, but I feel bad just taking the ranch out from under you.  Let me give you. . ."

Your brow furrowed as you tried to process what he was saying.  "What in the hell are you talking about, Steve?  I don't want your money, and if you think for one second I'm just going to let you steal my home out from underneath me, you'd better think again."

It was Steve's turn to be confused.  "I don't understand.  You said you were going back to Seattle. . ."

"I'm going back to request a leave of absence, to pack up some of my things, and talk to my landlord about subletting the apartment for a year.  You've taken so much from me already Steve, did you really think I wasn't going to fight for the only thing I have left?"

When he tried to speak again, you held up a hand to stop him.  You were done talking to him.  If you were going to be working with him for the next year, you wanted to limit the amount of time you actually had to spend with him.  Walking into the house, you slammed the door behind you.

 

Miranda and Mark had been extremely understanding and your landlord had someone lined up to sublet the apartment before you left to go back to Montana.  It was a hard adjustment for the first few weeks.  Your body wasn't used to the hard manual labor of ranch life.  It had been years since you'd mucked a stall, or unloaded bales of hay from the back of a truck.  Most nights you were lucky to stay awake during your shower, and more often than not, you slept on top of your covers as you fell onto your bed still wrapped in your towel.

You and Steve had developed a system of working together than ensured you rarely had to see one another.  You'd insisted on taking over the books, in part because you wanted to make sure the ranch continued to make a decent profit, and also because it gave you a few hours each day to sit behind a desk and rest your aching muscles.

There were a few bright spots in this arrangement.  You'd missed being around the horses and you couldn't deny that you loved being able to ride Loki every single day like you had when you were a teenager.  There was also Grant to think about as well.  He'd continued to flirt with you, much to Steve's chagrin, but now that you were pretty much the co-foreman, there was nothing he could say about it.  Grant hadn't asked you out, and you had wondered if he felt awkward asking out his boss.  You'd thought about asking him out, but you just didn't know when you'd have the time or energy to get cleaned up to have dinner in town.  For now, you just enjoyed the attention.

You were sure that Steve was going to be your biggest problem, but as it turned out, it was the odd occurrences that were driving you crazy.  They were small mishaps, but they happened so often that they became a thorn in your side.  Stall doors would be left open, or tack would be left out in the rain.  They happened too often to be considered coincidences, but you just couldn't figure out how or why they kept happening.

You had been at the ranch for a few months when one of these minor inconveniences threatened to become a catastrophe.  The paddock had been left open again and some of the horses had gotten loose.  It wouldn't have been that big of a problem, but a polar vortex had dropped down from Canada, and a storm system was moving in from the west.  The intense cold mixed with the low pressure system had the forecasters predicting a blizzard with upwards of two feet of snow.  

"Where's Steve?" you asked Grant as you started to saddle Loki.

"I haven't seen him in a few hours," Grant answered as he watched you pack your saddle bags with provisions.  "I don't like the idea of you going out in this weather.  We've already got six inches on the ground and visibility is getting worse by the minute."

"I appreciate your concern, Grant, but I know this land like the back of my hand.  The horses are at the creek, I just know it.  If I can make it back here, I'll bring them home, but if the weather is too bad, I'll just spend the night at the shed by the creek.  I've got plenty of blankets and supplies.  I'll be fine for a couple nights.  There's fresh hay in the lean-to by the shed, right?"

"Yeah, one of the guys just restocked it the other day, but I still don't like you going out there by yourself.  Why don't I come with you, just in case?"

You fastened the saddlebag closed and mounted Loki.  "There's no need for both of us to be stuck out in this storm.  I'll be fine."

 

Visibility had dropped to about ten feet and if you and Loki hadn't ridden this trail a thousand times before, you were sure you would've never made it to the creek.  You found a couple of the horses huddled together under a tree trying to stay warm in the frigid temperatures.  Dismounting Loki, you pulled two leads from your saddlebag and clipped them onto their halters.  You recognized the tree they were under, so you knew the shed was about 100 yards due north.  Leading three horses through heavy winds and about eight inches of snow was difficult, but you knew that all four of you would die if you didn't make it.

The shed suddenly appeared in front of you once you were right up on it, and you let out a relieved breath.  The whiteout conditions had you worried that you would miss it completely.  You led the horses around to the lean-to behind the shed.  You were surprised to see one of the missing horses already there.  The door had been shut, so you wondered how she'd been able to get in.  She must have wandered in when the door was open and then the wind had blown it shut.  Either way, all of the missing horses were accounted for. 

Knowing that you would never make it back to the barn in this storm, you settled the horses in for the night and grabbed your supplies before venturing back out to get to the entrance of the shed.  The blizzard had grown so intense that you had to run your hand alongside of the shed to feel your way to the front door.

Once you were inside, you dropped your supplies on the small table and walked over to the fireplace.  The shed was a tiny structure, only about 100 square feet.  It was intended to be used as an emergency shelter, so it was sparsely stocked.  It was built over an old well, so there was a source of water.  A few cabinets held some cans of food and a few pots to warm their contents over the fire.  A fresh stack of firewood was piled beside the fireplace.  There was also a bed, but you did your best not to look at it.  There were too many memories associated with that bed.

 

_It had been a beautiful day in late June when you and Steve had decided to take a picnic basket out to the creek.  You'd just graduated a few weeks earlier and you were trying to spend as much time together as you possibly could before the two of you left for college.  You had been accepted in the Pre-Med Sciences program at the University of Montana in Missoula while Steve was pursuing a degree in Equine Science at Montana State University in Bozeman.  The two schools were only 200 miles apart, but at 18, it felt like opposite ends of the world._

_At some point during the picnic, you and Steve had forgotten about the food and become more interested in sating a different kind of hunger.  You'd been the one to take the innocent outing to a different level, desperate to be as close to him as you could.  Pulling Steve toward you, you'd lain back on the blanket, relishing in the feel of him as he hovered above you.  His mouth was currently leaving a trail of fire down the side of your neck as you frantically untucked his shirt from his jeans.  His skin was smooth under your touch and you loved the way his muscles tensed and flexed under your hands as you softly caressed his back._

_One arm was supporting him so that he didn't crush you under his weight, but his other hand was currently popping the buttons of your chambray shirt causing you to become breathless with desire.  The first drop of water was easily ignored, but when the sky opened up and rain began pouring down on you, you'd had to hurriedly gather up your picnic and race to the shed.  Once you'd put Thor and Loki in the lean-to, you'd run through the summer storm to the front of the shed._

_Steve had started to build a fire to help warm you as you both stood there in your soaked clothes.  "You know, these will dry a whole lot quicker if we're not wearing them."_

_"(Y/N) (Y/L/N), if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get me naked so you could take advantage of me."_

_You raised a hand to your chest and gave a hurtful sigh as he continued to stack the logs in the fireplace.  "Steven Grant Rogers, how dare you accuse me of such vile debauchery.  I'll have you know I'm trying to find an excuse for me to get naked so you can take advantage of me!"_

_Not waiting for a response, you began to finish unbuttoning your shirt and peeling the wet fabric away from your skin.  Steve had closed his eyes and taken a deep breath as you moved closer to him to pin the shirt to the makeshift clothesline some ranch hand had hung up years before.  When he heard the rasp of your zipper his eyes shot open and his head whipped around to watch you shimmy out of your skintight blue jeans._

_Steve swallowed hard as his own jeans started to become uncomfortable.  He watched you as you stood on your tiptoes to reach the clothesline, your underwear so soaked that it had become translucent.  You were completely unashamed of putting your body on display like this for him and it was starting to drive him crazy._

_"That fire isn't going to build itself, you know," you teased as you started to unclasp your bra.  Steve's eyes grew wide, but before you'd finished, he'd turned back to the fire and began lighting the starter log._

_He kept his eyes closed as you finished undressing, waiting for the starter log to catch.  He could hear you walk barefoot to the small bed.  He chanced a peek and was somewhat disappointed to find that you were sitting on the bed, one of the quilts wrapped around yourself._

_You noticed the look of disappointment in his eyes and gave him a sultry smile.  "Get that fire going mister, and then come and join me."_

_"I don't know if this is a good idea, (Y/N)," Steve said through gritted teeth._

_You threw your head back in frustration.  "Steve!  How long are you going to make me wait?  We only have a few more weeks before we both leave for college.  Don't you want us to spend that time actually being together?"_

_Steve turned toward you, the desire in his eyes apparent for you to see.  "You know I do, but don't you think we should wait until. . .until we're. . .you know. . .completely sure."_

_You swung your legs over the bed, letting the quilt fall as you started walking toward him.  "I've been completely sure for years, Steve Rogers.  Look me in the eye and tell me that you're not sure about this.  I love you.  I've loved you my entire life.  You're the only man I ever want to be with, there's no one in this world for me but you."_

_You wound your arms around his neck, and pulled his face close to yours.  "I love you, too, (Y/N).  That's not the issue.  I just don't want to do this only because we'll be apart in a few weeks.  I want it to mean something."_

_"We love each other, Steve.  It doesn't matter if we do this today, tomorrow, when we graduate from college, or on our. . ."  You shook your head in frustration.  "What I'm saying is, it's going to mean something simply because it's you and me.  The time and place are only details.  All that matters is how we feel about each other."_

_Steve's arms wrapped around your naked torso, bringing you even closer to him.  "You're right, (Y/N).  I just wanted more for you than this dingy little shed.  I wanted flowers and candles and. . ."_

_You smiled up at him before silencing him with a kiss.  "We have the rest of our lives for that.  I kinda like the idea of our first time out here, in this dingy little shed with a thunderstorm raging outside."_

_Steve didn't need anymore convincing as he began to unbutton his shirt.  You smiled as you got busy undoing his belt buckle and flipping the button on his blue jeans.  His hands covered yours before you could pull down the zipper.  He lifted your hands to his shoulders as he finished undressing.  He started to ease you back toward the bed, but you held up a finger to stop him.  You quickly hung up his clothes and pulled a small silver package from the pocket of your jeans.  The sight of him standing completely naked before you took your breath away.  You couldn't believe that this beautiful man was yours, that you were lucky enough to love and be loved by him._

_"Where did you get that?" he asked, looking at the package in your hands._

_"I might have picked up a box when Dad took me to Missoula to tour the college," you told him. "It's not like I could buy them at the Thousand Oaks Drugstore, could I?  It would have been all over town before I even paid for them!"_

_"You have been planning this for a while."_

_"Yes, I have."_

_He reached out for you and you willing went back into his arms, ready to show him how much you loved him.  He was so gentle with you, his fingers ghosting over your skin as he caressed you.  Desire had built up within you to the point that you thought you would die from wanting him.  When he settled himself between your thighs, you felt as though you were finally complete.  This was what you'd been waiting for your entire life.  This feeling of being one with him was something you'd been missing out on for years._

_He was a slow and patient lover, completely attuned to your every sigh and moan to guide him as he brought you to the edge.  You were hesitant to let yourself fall, not because you were scared, but because you wanted this moment to last forever.  You held out for as long as you could, but you'd finally had to let go, and in doing so, you took him with you._

 

You were pulled out of your memories when you felt a blast of cold air behind you and hear the unmistakable sounds of a man's boots.  A shiver of fear ran down your spine until you heard his voice.


	7. Chapter 7

"That bed looks smaller than I remembered."

Turning around, you found Steve staring at the bed on the far side of the room as he shut the door behind him.  He was covered in a layer of snow and his nose and ears were a bright shade of red from the wind and the cold.

"What are you doing out here in this storm?"

"I could ask you the same thing, but seeing as how the other two horses are already in the lean-to, I'm going to assume you came out to find the escapees before they froze to death."

"I asked if anyone had seen you before I left, but no one knew where you were.  If I had known you had come out, I would have stayed back at the main house."

"No you wouldn't've," Steve argued as he swept past you to get the fire started.  "You don't trust me to do a damn thing around here.  You would have still come out in this storm to make sure I actually found them."

"Well maybe if things like this didn't keep happening around here, I might be able to trust you!"  Your temper was starting to boil over and picking a fight with Steve seemed like the best way to vent some of your pent up anger.

He quickly stacked the wood and lit the starter log before turning back to you.  "You think I don't realize how dangerous these incidents are becoming?  If I could figure out who was behind it all, I'd have them fired!  As it is, I'm afraid I'm going to have to have them arrested when they finally do something that gets someone hurt."

You started to say something back, but he just held out a hand.  "Look, I'm cold and I'm tired.  It's been a long afternoon and I'm not in the mood to fight with you right now.  Can we just call a truce for the night and try to get some rest?"

It wasn't so much his words, but the defeated tone in his voice that doused your anger.  You'd been so angry with him, blaming him for everything that was going wrong, that you'd failed to see the toll that this was taking on him.  As much as you hated to admit it, you knew he loved this ranch and would do anything to protect it.

"Fine, but I'm taking the bed."

"Like hell you are!  It's big enough for the two of us.  You stay on your side and I'll stay on mine.  Besides, there aren't enough blankets to keep us warm tonight if we split them up."

You hated to admit he was right, but he was right.  Even with the fire, the two of you would never be able to stay warm enough unless you shared the bed.  "Fine, but I get the side closest to the fire."

"Whatever you want, princess," he said as he started to take off his clothes.

Your eyes grew wide in disbelief when he started undoing the buttons of his shirt. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?  These clothes are soaking wet.  I have on thermals underneath and I'm pretty sure they're still dry.  Besides, wasn't it you that said our clothes will dry faster if we're not wearing them?"

Your mouth dropped open as he threw yours words from so many years ago right back at you.  Snapping your mouth shut, you shrugged out of your coat and began to undo the buttons on your top.  When you saw Steve pause, you gave him a sardonic smile.  "Don't worry sweetheart, I wearing my Under Armour, too."

Trying hard not to look at him in nothing but skin tight white thermals, you strode to your side of the bed and crawled under the covers.  You felt his side dip under his weight and if you hadn't been gripping the edge of the mattress, you would have rolled right into him.  This was going to be a long, uncomfortable night.

 

The wind was still howling and the fire had started to burn down leaving the room in an eerie glow.  Sometime during the night, the two of you had drifted toward one another and now you found yourself nestled into Steve's side, one leg thrown over his hip and your head on his chest.  It was both familiar and unfamiliar due to the changes his body had undergone in the past few years.  He was broader across the chest than you remembered and his muscles had grown bigger and harder.  The part of him currently pressing against your thigh was still the same, but there wasn't much to improve upon in that department. 

You knew you needed to move before he woke up and discovered you wrapped around him like this, but you were scared of waking him up.  Gingerly, you shifted your leg, only to have him reach down and grab it.

"Don't move," he demanded.

"Seriously, Steve?" you said as you craned your neck to look at him.  His eyes were still closed, but there was a devious grin on his face.

His hand gripped your thigh a little harder as he pushed you back onto the mattress, his body coming to rest on top of you.  Being pinned beneath him should have made you feel trapped and vulnerable, but instead you could feel desire rising up within you.  He was staring down at you and you could see that he was just as affected as you were. 

Making a snap decision, you wrapped your legs around him and pulled him even closer to you.  "Just so you know, this won't change anything between us."

"So, you just want to use me for hot sex tonight and then we go back to the way things have been?"

You tilted your hips, causing him to suck in a sharp breath through his gritted teeth.  "I think you're up  for it.  What do you say?  No strings attached, just sex."

He didn't answer, choosing instead to sit up on his knees and reach behind him to rip off his thermal top.  His hands went to the hem of your top and had it off of you in a flash.  He tugged at the waistband of your bottoms and you wriggled your hips to help him pull them off.  When he rolled over onto his back to pull his pants off, you took a ragged breath as the full weight of what was about to happen settled in.  

You knew this was a mistake.  You knew that the nostalgia of being back in the cabin after so many years was clouding your judgment, but you were woman enough to admit to yourself that this was always going to happen. The tension between the two of you had been so high these past few weeks, it was either going to end in sex or one of you killing the other.  You couldn't help the bubble of laughter as you realized that first option could potentially have the same result as the last.

He turned back to you, his hand tracing over the familiar contours of your body.  Your mind automatically went back to those hot summer nights when you'd snuck out of the house to meet him here.  It had been candlelight, not firelight, that had lit the room, but the effect was about the same.  You could see the shadows playing over the rigid muscles of his abdomen and you couldn't help but reach out and run your hand along them.

Steve sucked in a breath as your hand began to travel even lower.  "Not yet, sweetheart," he whispered in your ear, his hand reaching down to grab ahold of your wrist.  "We've got all night, and I'm not in any hurry."

He lifted your arm above your head as his mouth began to leave a trail of hot, opened mouthed kisses down your neck.  Your other arm was pinned beneath him as he half lay beside you and half hovered above you.  It was a heady sensation to have his hands and mouth on you as you lay helpless beneath him.

There was familiarity to the way he touched you, and you hated to admit that, even after all of these years, it was his touch that you'd been craving.  Mark was a wonderful lover, but he'd never taken the time to learn your body the way that Steve had.  Steve knew just where to kiss, where to nip, and where to caress to bring you right to the edge.  

As Steve began to explore the rest of your body, his hand let go of your wrist, and you took advantage of your newfound freedom to run your fingers through his hair.  He stopped to look up at you, his eyes wide with desire.  Never taking his eyes off of you, he left a trail of kisses up your torso as he shifted to lay on top of you.

Your legs wrapped around him as he ran his fingers down the side of your cheek.  You tried to read the expression on his face, but with the deepening shadows from the dying fire, you couldn't tell what he was thinking.  He seemed to waiting on a cue from you, but you were unsure of what he wanted.  You knew that you should try your best to keep this casual and fun, but this was Steve.  This was a grownup Steve that you didn't really know, and you weren't as sure of yourself around him anymore.

He seemed to finally make up his mind as his head began to lower, his lips gently brushing across yours.  It was a simple kiss, but it felt as though an electrical current had torn through your body.  Your hands were still buried in his hair, so you gently tugged, letting him know that you wanted more.  He shifted his head to the left as he increased the pressure of his lips against yours.

The moan that rose up from within you surprised you both.  You could feel his lips curve up in a smile as his teeth nipped at your bottom lip.  Recognizing the request, you opened your mouth and swept your tongue across his.  Kissing Steve had been something you'd done since you were fourteen, but somehow, after all of these years, it still had the same effect on you.  

For four years, the two of you had been content to kiss one another for hours, but once you'd had a real taste of what loving him could be like, you could never go back to those simple make-out sessions.  Now was no different.  Once his tongue had delved in to your mouth to tangle with yours, you were done for.  Desire had been brewing inside of you since you'd awoken in his arms, but now you were burning with a fire only he could douse.

Your hands had gone from his hair to grasp at his shoulders as you pulled him as close to you as you could.  He seemed to be as frantic as you, so it came as a surprise when he suddenly pulled away and got to his feet.

You were struggling to catch your breath as you watched him cross the room to his saddlebag that was laying on the table where he'd dropped it a few hours ago.  Rummaging around in the pockets, he finally found what he was looking for.  You heard the sound of the foil packet ripping and you the panic that had been rising up within you began to fade.  You'd been terrified that he was going to stop, that you were going to have to beg him to finish what he'd started, so it came as a relief to realize that he was just being careful like he always was.

He turned back toward the bed and lay beside you again.  "This is your last chance to stop, (Y/N)."  

The look he gave you was one of pleading, his eyes begging you not to say no.  You knew Steve well enough to know that if you had changed your mind, he would honor your decision, but you had no intention of saying no.

"I'm sure about this Steve," you told him as you leaned up to kiss him again.

You could feel his sigh of relief as he moved to lay on top of you again.  You had thought that things would be awkward at first, but it was as though no time had passed.  The two of you were in perfect sync as you came together once again.  Steve hadn't been lying when he'd told you that he was in no hurry for this night to end as he tortured you with an agonizingly slow pace.  

With Mark, you'd always been in a hurry, the adrenaline from surgery making you frantic to find your release, so you'd forgotten what it felt like to take your time.  Steve had always made you feel cherished and special, that he was more concerned with your pleasure than he was with his own.  You hadn't realized just how much you missed that feeling.  

As you finally fell over the edge, tears began to well up as you realized that this would only be for tonight.  This had been a very pleasurable trip down memory lane, but it could never happen again.  You had tried to deny your feelings for him since you'd returned, but it was no use.

You weren't sure how long you lay there, arms and legs still entwined, but eventually he untangled himself and rose from the bed.  You pulled the covers over you as you watched him walk across the room to grab a pot from the cabinet over the sink.  He filled it with a little water and placed it on the steel grate over the fire.  Stoking the fire, he let the water heat up as he riffled through his saddlebag again.

Curiosity had you watching his every move, that and the impressive display of his naked body.  He finally found a small rag and went back to the fireplace.  Dipping the rag in the water to get it wet, he used it to clean himself before turning back to you.  He sat on the side of the bed and reached under the covers to spread your legs again.  When the rag touched the sensitive skin between your thighs, you drew in a sharp breath.

"Did I hurt you?"  His eyes were wide in shock and his voice was ragged.

"No," you told him, knowing that was referring to your lovemaking and not the events that had transpired years ago.  "The cloth was cooler than I expected."

He gave you a look that let you know he realized how his words could have been misconstrued as he continued to caress you.  Somehow this innocent act was more intimate that anything the two of you had just done, and it was making you uncomfortable.  

"The stories this bed could tell, huh?"  

You knew he was trying to lighten the mood, so you humored him and played along.  "Thank goodness my father never found out what all happened in this shed that summer."

He chuckled as he shook his head at you.  "Sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, but he knew from the very first time."

Your eyes grew wide as embarrassment washed over you in waves.  "How do you know that?"

"As I was putting up the horses, he ordered me into the tack room, and threw a box of condoms at me.  Told me that he was proud of me for holding out as long as I had, but he knew that I'd eventually give in to you.  He told me to be careful with you, that he didn't want me to be the reason you never got to fulfill your dreams."

You didn't know what to say to that admission.  This new information was just too much for you to process at the moment.  The minute he drew his hand away and rose from the bed, you rolled onto your side, facing away from him and the fire.

You heard the sizzle of the wet rag hitting the flaming logs and waited to hear him cross the room again.  Tension had filled the room and you found it hard to breath as you waited for him to come back to the bed.  His bare feet on the wooden floor were muffled, but you felt the mattress dip under his weight as he sat on the edge.  You could almost feel the debate raging within him as he struggled with his own better judgement.

When he whispered your name on a plea, you were helpless to deny him.  He lay on his back, his arm outstretched to welcome you into his embrace.  You kept your eyes averted lest he see what you knew was plainly written on your face.  You'd hoped you'd be able to keep things casual, but once again you were lost in him.  All of the feelings that you'd buried years ago came rushing back to you and you knew that you were traveling a very dangerous road.  Once upon a time, you'd given this man every ounce of your heart, soul, and body.  To do so again would be to court disaster, but where Steve was concerned you were helpless.

He wrapped his arm around your back, his hand resting on your hip as his thumb drew lazy circles on your over sensitized skin.  Your head was cradled in the crook of his shoulder, and your hand rested over his heart.  The brush of his thumb eventually started to lull you to sleep, but you could have sworn you felt him lean down to brush a kiss over your forehead, your name a whisper on his lips.  Maybe you weren't the only one succumbing to the emotions welling up inside you.

 

When you awoke the next morning, the first thing you noticed was the sun shining through the windows.  The wind had died and you knew the storm had finally passed you by.  Careful not to wake Steve, you eased yourself out of bed and began to get dressed.  You were as quiet as you could be, desperate not to wake him and face the aftermath of last night.  You added another log to the fire before you grabbed your saddlebag and shimmied out the door.

You had to admit that the forecasters had been right as you trudged through almost two feet of snow to the lean-to.  As you tied the horses together with the extra rope you'd brought, you kept looking over your shoulder.  Part of you wanted him to come looking for you, to beg you stay with him.  The other part of you wanted to get as far away from him as you possibly could.

Once you had the horses lined up behind Loki, you mounted the stallion and began the treacherous journey back to the barn.  You chanced one last look back, disappointment flooding your system as you topped the rise that removed the shed from your view.


	8. Chapter 8

You and Steve had managed to avoid seeing one another for a week following the storm.  You spent the majority of your time in your dad's office in the main house, just to make sure that you didn't see him.  Your emotions were a jumbled mess and you had no idea how to deal with what had happened in the shed.  Your relationship with Mark was so easy, and you really thought you could have that same type of arrangement with Steve.  Obviously there were still feelings there, at least for you, and that made it impossible for you to keep things casual with him.

Once all the snow had melted and life on the ranch got back to normal, you started to feel more at ease.  You'd seen Steve a few times, but neither of you had spoken more than a few words to each other, choosing to keep things strictly professional.  It was awkward, to say the least, but you both knew how much was at stake if the ranch didn't continue to do well.

You'd just finished up for the day and as you headed up the stairs to your room and the promise of a hot shower, you were stopped by the sound of a truck coming down the drive.  Hanging your head in defeat, you staggered back down the stairs to the front door.  Looking out the window, you saw Bucky getting out of the cab and walking toward the porch.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" you asked as you opened the front door.

A smile lit his handsome face as he strode toward you and cupped your face in his hands.  "You look like hell."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"You're working yourself to death, (Y/N).  You haven't left this ranch in months, I never see you and when we do talk, you're to exhausted to tell me what's really going on.  You need to get away from here for a night."

He held up a hand when you started to protest.  "I don't want to hear your excuses.  The accounts will wait until tomorrow.  Right now we're heading upstairs to get you a shower and some clean clothes and then I'm taking you out to dinner."

Utterly defeated and exhausted, you leaned your head on his shoulder and wrapped your arms around him.  "How I have I survived these past few years without you?"

"I don't know, doll," he said as he rubbed his hands up and down your back.  "I really don't know."

He stepped back and guided you up the stairs and toward your room.  "You go grab a shower, and I'll pick out some clothes for you to wear."

You didn't need him to tell you twice as you closed the bathroom door and began to strip off your work clothes.  You could have stayed in the shower for hours, but you knew Bucky was waiting for you, so you hurriedly washed off.

Cracking the door a bit, you saw that he was no longer in your bedroom, but he had laid out a clean pair of jeans and one of your favorite sweaters.  Thankfully, he hadn't gone through your underwear drawer, so that was all you had to grab for yourself.  

Twenty minutes later, you were descending the stairs, ready for him to take you out for a meal you didn't have to cook for yourself.  Since you'd been living back here, you'd realized how much you'd taken food delivery for granted.

"Where are we going?" you asked as he helped you into your coat.

"I thought we'd go to the Catherdal Café."

You hadn't been to Catherdal in years.  It used to be a church, but when it became too small for the amount of people who attended, the congregation built a bigger building on the other side of town and put the old structure up for sale.  A couple had bought the building and turned it into a restaurant.  The residents of Thousand Oaks were appalled at first, but once they tasted the food, they were sold on the idea.

Knowing how tired you were, Bucky didn't complain when you took a short nap during the ride into town.  You leaned back in the seat and were fast asleep before he made it all the way down the drive.

You awoke when he pulled into the small parking lot next to the café.  "Here already?"

"I actually drove around the block a few times to give you a few more minutes, but I'm starving."

Bucky came around and opened your door for you and guided you up the stairs to the café, his hand on the small of your back.  The sign just inside the door informed you to seat yourself, so Bucky led you to a quite corner with a table for two tucked under one of the stained glass windows.

As you walked through the café, people you knew said hello or waved in greeting.  You'd forgotten how friendly everyone was in this town.  Bucky was right, you'd barely left the ranch since you'd returned and other than the funeral, you hadn't seen many of the people you grew up around.

A pretty waitress came over to bring you menus and take your drink orders.  There was something familiar about her, but you just couldn't place her.

"Hey, Pip," Bucky said in greeting, and at once you knew exactly who she was.

"Pipsqueak?  Is it really you?"  Pip was about four years younger than you, and Maria had spent most of High School babysitting her.  Not wanting to miss out on anything the rest of you did, Maria ended up dragging the poor girl along.  Pip was a tiny thing, which is why the guys nicknamed her Pipsqueak.  Eventually, the nickname was shortened to Pip, and it seems as though it had stuck throughout the years.

"Hey, (Y/N)," she said with a grin.  "I'm sorry about your dad.  I was out of town that weekend at a workshop for school and missed the funeral."

"School?"

"I'm doing one of those online programs to get my Masters degree," she explained.  "It's almost 100% online courses, but every now and then they want us to go to Missoula for a workshop."

"That's amazing that you're still working on your degree.  Where are your parents, are they in the back or just taking the night off?"

Pip gave you a small smile that didn't quiet reach her eyes.  "Mom and Dad decided it was time to retire, so they bought an RV and are currently in Maine, I think.  I can barely keep up with their schedule."

"Pip loved this town and the café too much to see it close down, so she moved back to run the place, didn't you, Pip?" Bucky had a huge grin on his face as he offered his explanation for why she had returned.

"Something like that," she said cryptically.  "Anyway, what can I get you guys to drink?"

Once she'd left, Bucky pounced on you.  "So, now that we've got some privacy, you want to tell me what's going on at the ranch?"

You were shocked at his tone, not knowing where this hostility was coming from.  "What are you talking about, Buck?"

"I've heard about the incidents," he explained.  "Your hands talk to my hands and then things get back to me."  He took a deep breath before he continued.  "I heard about the horses getting loose during the blizzard. . ."

He let his words trail off, and you knew that somehow he'd figured out what had happened.  "It's not what you think, Bucky."

"I'll tell you what I think.  I think that both you and Steve went after those horses, that you were both gone all night, that there was only once place to hole up in a storm like that."  He ran a hand down his face before continuing.  "I know you came back with the horses early the next morning and that Steve didn't return until after about an hour after you and that he was absolutely frantic.  He damn near killed Thor trying to get back to the ranch."

A sick feeling settled in your stomach at his words.  You hadn't know that Steve was so worried about you.  You were so concerned with getting away from the shed, away from him and the feelings you couldn't control that you didn't think about how he would react when he woke up and found you gone.

"What happened that night, (Y/N)," Bucky asked, his voice barely a whisper.  Seeing the look of guilt on your face, he swore.  "How could you be that stupid?"

"What do you want me to say, Bucky?  It's not like I planned for it to happen, it just did.  I told him it didn't mean anything, it was just sex."

"Steve's not Mark, (Y/N)," Bucky said.  "He's not some guy you can just use when you need to scratch an itch."

"I know that, Bucky," you hissed.  "I wasn't thinking straight that night."

"Well, the next time you need to get laid, I'd prefer it if you didn't go to Steve.  Hell, I'd rather you come to me!"

The sound of breaking glass had both of you looking up in surprise.  Pip was standing beside the table, a shocked look on her face, and the broken remnants of your drinks at her feet.  "I'm so sorry.  Let me go get something to clean this up and I'll bring you some new drinks.  I'm so, so sorry."

You couldn't help the chuckle that rose up within you.  "You do realize that she heard you propositioning me, right?"

"I was not propositioning you," Bucky protested.  "I was offering my services to save my poor friend's heart from being broken again."

"Which friend are you talking about, Bucky?  Me or Steve?"

He gave you a long look before he answered.  "Both of you."

"I can't let him hurt me again, Bucky," you confessed.  "I don't think I can take it a second time."

He reached across the table to grab your hands.  "I know, but things are different now.  You're not kids anymore, (Y/N).  I think it's time for you to make a decision.  Do you want to be with him or not?"

"I really thought I'd buried all of those feelings years ago, but now I'm not so sure," you admitted.  "I think a part of me has always been in love with, will always be in love with him.  I just don't know if he feels the same way about me."

Bucky let go of your hands and rubbed them down his face.  "He's going to kill me, but I can't sit back and watch the two of you do this any longer."  He lowered his hands and looked you straight in the eye.  "He still loves you, (Y/N).  I know this because he told me so himself.  He didn't tell me what happened between you two back in college, but he told me he'd made the biggest mistake of his life, that losing you was going to haunt him forever."

You couldn't stop the tears from falling as you processed what Bucky was telling you.  "Oh, Bucky, what I am going to do?"

"I can't tell you what to do, but I think you already know what I think you should do."

Pip chose that moment to return with new drinks and a dustpan and mop to clean up the mess she'd made.  "I'm so sorry, guys.  I'm never this clumsy."

"It's okay, Pip," you said as you grabbed napkin to dry your eyes.  "It happens to the best of us."

Straightening up, she set aside the dustpan and mop and pulled her order pad from her apron pocket.  "Do you guys know what you want to eat?"

Bucky looked at you and you gave him a smile to let him know that you were okay.  "I think we're ready to order."

 

The rest of dinner was thankfully uneventful and Bucky didn't bring up Steve again.  He'd gone out of his way to entertain you with anecdotes from the past few years.  You enjoyed being with Bucky and listening to his stories, but a part of you was still debating on what you should do about Steve.

The drive back to the ranch was quiet, Bucky instinctively knowing that you needed the time to really consider your options.  The closer you got to the ranch, the more sure you were about your decision.  You knew what you had to do, and you knew that you needed to do it tonight.

Bucky pulled up to the front of the house and killed the engine.  "Do you want me to go with you?"

"What do you think I'm going to do?"

"I honestly don't know," he said.  "Either way, I'm here for you."

You leaned over and gave him a hug.  "You're the best, but I think you might want to sit this one out.  If things go the way I'm hoping, I don't want a third wheel getting in the way of what will possibly be some incredible makeup sex."

Bucky let out a laugh as he playfully shoved you towards the passenger side door.  "What are you waiting for?  Go get your man!"

You gave him a huge smile and a wink as you jumped down from the cab and set off toward Steve's cabin.  You were both excited and terrified.  This was either going to the best decision you'd ever made or the worst.  You knew Bucky was confident about Steve's feelings toward you, but you still weren't sure.  Your mind kept going back to that fateful day all those years ago.

 

_Your biology lab had been cancelled on Friday afternoon, so you'd decided to surprise Steve in Bozeman.  The two of you hadn't had a chance to see each other in weeks, and you were both supposed to come home this weekend, but you couldn't wait.  Besides, you could probably spend more time together in his dorm room than you could back in Thousand Oaks and you wanted to spend as much time with him as you possibly could this weekend._

_The three hour drive seemed to drag on as your excitement continued to grow.  After what had seemed like an eternity, you'd finally pulled up in front of Steve's building.  You hadn't bothered to grab your overnight bag, too anxious to actually see him._

_You raced up the stairs to the third floor and quickly found the door to his room.  Your heart was racing as you imagined what he would say when he saw you.  You couldn't keep the goofy grin off of your face as you reached up to knock on the door._

_Your grin quickly fell when the half-naked brunette opened the door.  "Did ya forget your key, Steve?"  She looked at you in confusion for a second.  "You're not Steve."_

_She was obviously drunk, her words slurring as she struggled to not to fall over.  You stood in the hallway, completely in shock as your mind desperately tried to make sense of what you were seeing._

_"Laura, honey, what are you doing?"_

_Steve's voice brought you back to reality as he rushed up the hallway toward the two of you.  He shoved the bag of takeout food into Laura's hand and instructed her to go put some clothes on before pulling the door closed._

_"Steve?  What's going on?"_

_He turned around to face you, but you couldn't read the expression on his face.  "(Y/N). . ."_

_"Is she. . .are you two. . .?" You couldn't get the words out, but Steve understood you perfectly._

_He took a deep breath and hung his head, too ashamed to look at you anymore._

_On a strangled sob, you turned and ran back down the hallway and down the stairs.  You got in your car and started driving.  When the tears pouring down your eyes finally started clouding your vision, you pulled over to the side of the road.  You don't know how long you sat there, crying, but eventually the tears waned and the anger set it.  You drove back to Missoula and texted your dad to let him know that you wouldn't be home that weekend._

 

Your heart ached when you thought of all that you'd given up after that day.  You hadn't returned to Thousand Oaks, to Wolf Creek, until it was too late.  This time things were going to be different.  This time you weren't running away, you were taking a stand and fighting for what you wanted.

The same excitement you'd felt all of those years ago came back to you as you reached up to knock on the door.  That excitement died the second the door opened.

"Laura?"


	9. Chapter 9

"I'm sorry, do I know you," she asked.

"I doubt you'd remember me," you told her.  "Don't worry about it.  I should actually be thanking you.  You're saving me from making the biggest mistake of my life."

Not waiting for the other woman to reply, you began walking back to your house.  You couldn't believe how stupid you'd been.  A part of you wanted to kill Bucky for getting your hopes up, but you knew that ultimately, you were the one to blame.  You were the one to let Steve back into your life, into your heart.  You knew the risk you were taking, and now you'd have to face the consequences.

You'd made it all the way to the back door before you heard him calling your name.  You hesitated for just a second as you debated on whether or not you wanted to face him tonight or wait until tomorrow.  Knowing that another few hours weren't going to matter, you decided to get this over with.  Turning around, you watched him run toward you, still frantically screaming your name.  

He was breathing hard as he came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs.  "(Y/N), you have to let me explain."

"What's to explain, Steve?  You cheated on me with Laura, and now you've cheated on her with me.  I actually kinda feel sorry for the poor woman, but she should have known.  'Once a cheater, always a cheater.'"

Steve closed his eyes as he drew in a long breath.  "It's not like that, (Y/N)."

"Then why don't you tell me what's it like!"  Your hurt had quickly turned to anger and you were glad.  You would have hated to have this argument with him while you were crying.  "You didn't offer much of an explanation the first time around, so let's hear it!"

"I screwed up, (Y/N).  I thought I was doing what was best for you. . ."

"What was best for me?"  Your eyes had grown large as fury raged within you.  "Why on earth would you think that cheating on me would be the best thing for me?  Please, tell me, because I would love to know what the hell you were thinking."

"I didn't cheat on you, (Y/N)," Steve admitted.  "I never cheated on you."

His words had you taking a step back in shock.  You shook your head in disbelief as you tried to understand what he was telling you.

"I saw her that day, Steve," you reminded him.  "She was in your room wearing nothing but her underwear.  You brought her food, called her honey, and now you're trying to deny all of that!  Do you think I'm stupid?"

"You're not stupid, (Y/N).  I was the stupid one."  He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.  "I knew what you thought that day, and I let you believe it."

"My patience is growing thin here, Steven," you warned.  "If you don't start explaining everything in the next few seconds, I'm walking into that house and you'll be packing your bags.  I don't give a damn what Dad's will says.  I might have to keep you on as foreman for the next eight months, but I don't have to let you continue living here."

Utterly defeated, Steve walked up the short flight of stairs and sat on the top step, his head in his hands.  "Laura was my roommate's girlfriend, his wife now.  They're both here visiting me now, but that's not the point.  She and Clint had gotten wasted that afternoon and I offered to go get them something to eat before I left to go home.  When I saw you there, I realized that you must have skipped class to come see me.  As happy as I was to see you, I knew that if you did it once, you'd keep doing it, and I'd be too selfish to tell you not to.  I couldn't take the risk of you failing a course just to be with me.  I couldn't be the reason you ruined your life."

You leaned back against the door as his words sank in.  All of this time, he'd lied to you, let you believe the worst of him, and he'd done it because he thought you'd skipped class to come see him.  "You idiot!"

His shoulders tensed at your outburst, but he still refused to look at you.  You regained your composure and walked toward him, sitting on the step next to him.  Taking his chin in your hand, you forced him to look at you.  You weren't prepared to see the tears on his face.

"I wanted to make it up to you, (Y/N).  I wanted to be able to start over, but I'd done too good of a job making you hate me.  I thought we were finally getting somewhere that night at the shed, but when I woke up the next morning, you were gone."

"I was scared, Steve," you admitted.  "You broke my heart that day, and I've never gotten over it.  I couldn't let you hurt me again.  And now I know that it was all for nothing."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't skip class that day, Steve.  My professor's daughter fell at school and broke her arm, so he cancelled our lab for the afternoon.  I wanted to surprise you.  I may have loved you, Steve, but I wasn't going to start skipping classes just to see you.  I thought we had our entire lives to be together, and I didn't think a few at years college was going to change that."

He suddenly stood up and walked back down the stairs.  "I don't deserve you.  I've been so horrible to you, and I've hurt you.  You'd be better off with anyone but me."

"Would you stop being such an idiot?"

The harshness of your tone had him spinning back around to face you as you marched down the stairs.  "What happened to you, Steve?  Everything was fine our Senior year, we were both so excited to get into college.  We knew it was going to be tough being apart, but we were prepared for that.  Something happened that summer.  You started to get distant, and then you lied to me about Laura.  I don't get it.  What am I missing?"

"Do you remember what I told you in the shed?"

"The shed?  Steve, that was years ago!  I know I pushed you into having sex that day. . .wait is that it?  Is that why you got so distant, you weren't ready?"

Steve walked toward you and his hands came up to cradle your face.  "Don't ever think that.  That was single greatest day of my life, (Y/N), and I wouldn't change a single thing about it."  He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against yours.  "I was talking about what I told you a few weeks ago in the shed. . .what your father said to me."

"I still don't understand, Steve.  He gave you a box of condoms because he didn't want me to get pregnant.  If I recall correctly, I think we used that entire box that summer.  What does that have to do with anything?"

"You loved me so much, (Y/N), and I loved you, but I just couldn't get your father's words out of my head.  He warned me that I had the power ruin your life, and I wanted so much more for you.  You had such big dreams and all I wanted was to come back here and run a ranch. I couldn't let you give up your dreams of being a doctor for me."

You stepped away from him, his hands falling from your face as you put some space between you.  "I did want to become a doctor, Steve.  I wanted to be a doctor here, with you.  I'd already talked to Dr. Banner.  He told me that he would wait to retire until after I finished Med School, and then he'd hand his practice over to me.  We talked about this, Steve!  We had a plan!"

"I know, but look what you've accomplished without me.  You're the head of Cardio-Thoracic surgery, you have this amazing career, and you wouldn't have any of that if you'd stayed with me."

"I didn't want any of that, Steve!  I wanted you!  I wanted the life we'd planned together!  Dammit, I still do!" The dam inside of you broke and you couldn't keep the tears from falling from your eyes.

Seeing you start to fall apart, realizing that yet again, it was all his fault, Steve rushed forward and pulled you into his arms.  He cradled your head against his shoulder as he whispered comforting words in your ear.  "Shh, baby.  I'm right here.  I'm not going anywhere.  I promise I'll never let you go.  Please forgive me."

Once your tears were spent and you'd calmed down, you looked up to meet his worried gaze.  "I swear, Steve Rogers, if you ever pull something like this again, I will kill you."

A huge smile spread across his face.  "There's my girl."  

Not wanting to waste another second, you pulled his head closer to yours and kissed him with every ounce of emotion you had.  It was different this time around.  There was no hesitation, no point to prove, just pure unadulterated love.

Finally breaking apart to catch your breath, Steve smiled down at you.  "We're good?"

"I'm still going to make you pay for lying to me, but yeah, we're good."  You gave him a cheeky grin as you leaned in for another kiss.

He pulled away suddenly.  "Do you smell that?"

Taking a deep breath in through your nose, your eyes grew wide in alarm.  "Smoke!"

The two of you turned to look back at the barn and saw the billows of thick grey smoke pouring from the loft above the barn.  You immediately broke apart and began running toward the burning building.

"Start in the middle and work your way back to the house," Steve instructed as he opened Thor's stall and began leading him toward the end of the barn closest to his cabin.

The horses were frantic with fear, rearing up on their hind legs and pawing at the sky.  It took you two tries to get Loki calm enough to lead him from his stall and out of the smoke filled barn.  You rushed to tie him to the hitching post by the back porch so you could get back in to save the other horses.

The smoke had grown so thick, you could barely make out Steve's form as he quickly worked to empty the barn before it was completely engulfed in flames.  The heat had started to rise as the hay up above was burned away, leaving nothing for the flames to consume but the building itself.

You lost track of time as you made countless trips in and out of the barn.  You'd completely lost sight of Steve as the two of you worked your way to the stalls closer to the entrances of the barn.  You only had three horses left to rescue when he suddenly appeared behind you.  You each grabbed a horse and led them out of the barn.

"I've got the last one," he told you as he rushed back into the burning barn.

You watched as the horse continued to rear up, not letting Steve get close enough to grab his halter.  Overcome with smoke, Steve began to cough and missed the horse's hooves coming toward him.  You screamed as he began to fall.  The horse saw it's opportunity to escape and ran from the barn as you started to run toward Steve.  Just as you came to the entrance, the loft gave way and came crashing down in front of you, blocking the entrance and trapping Steve inside.


	10. Chapter 10

"STEVE!"  

You were absolutely frantic as you tried to see through the pieces of burning wood blocking your way to Steve.  Finally, you saw him get to his feet, coughing and holding his shoulder.  He looked at the pile of burning debris in front of him and began to run to the opposite end of the barn.  You took off at a sprint around the side of the barn, racing to get to the other entrance, praying that the loft would hold long enough for him to make it safety.  You rounded the corner just as he emerged and threw yourself into his outstretched arm, careful not to bump into his injured shoulder.

"I thought I'd lost you!"

"I'm fine.  A little banged up and some smoke inhalation, but other than that I'm fine.  The horses?"

"They're fine.  The last one knocked you over and then took off running out of the barn.  We'll worry about finding him later."

As the two of you stood watching the barn continue to burn, Laura, and a man you assumed to be Clint came running out of Steve's cabin.

"Are you two alright?" Clint asked.  "We only just saw the flames.  I called 911, and they said help was on their way."

Steve turned to look at his friend.  "We're fine.  The barn's a complete loss, but we got the horses out.  The barn's far enough away from the other structures that there should be no danger of the fire spreading."  Looking down at you he said, "I've got the only thing that's truly important right here."

You took his face between your hands and gave him a kiss.  He tasted like smoke, but you didn't care.  All that mattered was that he alive.

"So, you must be the woman Steve used my wife to break up with back in college," Clint said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

At your confused expression Steve began to explain.  "I gave Laura the shortened version of the story before I came after you."

"I'm so sorry that I caused so many problems between the two of you," Laura apologized. "I sorta remember that day, but Clint and I had gotten into some Jell-O shots and we were so drunk."

You held out your hand to the other woman, giving it a squeeze when she took it.  "It wasn't your fault.  Steve was an idiot, still is if I'm being honest, but I don't blame you at all."

The sound of sirens drew your attention to the dirt road that led around the side of the main house.  Two fire trucks followed by a line of pick-ups and an ambulance came flying around the side of the house.  The fire engines stopped by the house, but upon seeing the four of you on the far side of the barn, the pick-ups and the ambulance continued around the burning barn to pull up beside you.

As the paramedics began looking at Steve's shoulder and checking you for injuries, the firemen started unraveling the hoses and attached them to the water line near the house.  A line of pick-ups came barreling up the road from behind Steve's cabin.  The ranch hands and your friends came rushing to your side, anxious to make sure you were alright.

Bucky pulled you into his arms and almost crushed you as he hugged you.  "I was so scared something had happened to you and Steve.  I know how much you two love those stupid horses, I just knew you'd run into a burning building to save them."

"We're fine Bucky, I promise.  Steve got knocked over by one of the horses, but other than that, we're fine.  No burns, just some smoke inhalation."

"How did the fire start?" Sam asked, not so much as a friend, but as the Sheriff.

Steve had been cleared by the medics and with his arm in a sling came back to the group.  "I honestly don't know, Sam.  By the time (Y/N) and I smelled the smoke, the entire hay loft was in flames.  We were lucky to get all of the horses out before the loft collapsed on us."

Sam began to look around at the ranch hands gathered around you.  His eyes narrowed as he began to count the number of men present.  "You've got ten hands, right Steve?"

Catching onto Sam's train of thought, Steve began looking at the men who were present.  All of the ranch hands lived in a bunkhouse about a half a mile from the main buildings, so there was no reason why any of them wouldn't be here.

"Where's Ward?" Steve called out to the men now focused on the fireman dousing the flames.

One of them turned back to answer him.  "Said he cut his hand on an axe.  We left him in the bunkhouse bandaging himself up."

Sam and Steve shared a suspicious look before running toward Sam's truck.  Not about to be left behind, you ran after them, squeezing past Steve to sit in the middle of the cab's bench seat.  Steve shook his head, but didn't bother trying to dissuade you from coming.

Sam tore off down the road and as he came up to the bunkhouse, you saw Grant run from the entrance, a bag over his shoulder and his right hand bandaged up.  He tried to make it to his truck, but Sam had already jumped out and tackled him to the ground.

You and Steve weren't far behind as Sam ripped the bandage from Grant's hand.  "I thought you told your friends you cut your hand on an axe.  This sure looks like a second degree burn to me."

A hurt look came across your face as you realized that Grant was one the who'd set the fire.  "Why did you do it, Grant?  Wait, were you the one behind all of the other incidents?"

Sam had pulled Grant's arms behind him and secured him with handcuffs before he answered you.  "I didn't mean to burn the barn down.  I was just trying to get your attention."

"I don't understand, Grant.  Why did you need to start a fire to get my attention?"

"I needed you to see what a worthless piece of shit Rogers is," he explained.  "I heard him talking to your daddy one day.  Told him how you walked in on him and some bimbo in college and that's why you broke up with him.  I could see you falling for his innocent Boy Scout act all over again. . .I was trying to get you to fire him.  You deserved to be with someone that actually cared about you. . .you were supposed to be with me!"

You looked at Steve for a moment before turning back to Grant.  "You don't know the whole story, I just found out the truth a little while ago.  It was all a huge misunderstanding, but what you did tonight. . .that can't be ignored.  You've been putting our horses in danger for months now, and now you've committed arson.  The barn is completely lost and Steve almost died, Grant!"

Grant hung his head in shame.  "I didn't want anyone to get hurt, I swear."

Refusing to stay silent any longer, Steve finally spoke up.  "I had my suspicions about you, but I never would have thought you'd go this far.  I knew you carried a torch for (Y/N), had since High School, but you should have known you'd never win her over by putting her horses in danger."

"Well, story time is over, folks," Sam announced as he walked Grant toward his truck.  Opening the back door, he helped the man into the backseat.  You and Steve waved Sam off, opting to walk back to the barn instead.

"Why do I feel like this is all my fault?" you asked Steve as you started walking down the dirt road, your hand intertwined with his.

"It's not your fault, and it's not mine, either.  Ward is the one who decided to go down this path, and he started long before you came back.  He was hoping your father would fire me, and after he died, he tried to get you to do it instead.  Too bad he didn't know about the stipulations in your dad's will.  Would have saved us all a lot of trouble."

"About those stipulations. . ."

"What do you mean?"

"Grant said he overheard you telling Daddy about Laura.  Why didn't you tell me you'd told him?"

Steve furrowed his brow in confusion.  "I'm a little confused about that myself.  I don't remember telling your dad about that.  I never told anyone about it."

"Well, obviously you did, or Grant wouldn't have known.  Think about it Steve, these incidents started a few months before Daddy died.  What happened around that time?"

Steve took a moment to think as you continued to walk.  "There was one night.  He'd just gotten back from visiting you in Seattle and he came by the cabin with a bottle of whisky.  I remember him telling me about how well you were doing, and the more he kept talking, the more I kept drinking.  I woke up the next morning passed out on the couch, but I don't remember much else about that night."

You started to laugh as realization dawned on you.  "Daddy obviously got you drunk, finally got the truth out of you, and then continued feeding you liquor until you blacked out."

"Now that I think about it, he left the ranch a few days later, said he had an appointment with Tony.  That must have been when he changed his will."

"Had he been sick?" you asked.  "Why change his will like that if he wasn't sure when he was going to die?  We could have both been married with kids if he'd lived another twenty years.  Then what would have happened?"

"I don't know what he was thinking," Steve admitted.  "I guess this was just his back-up plan.  Knowing your dad, he had something else in mind to get us back together, he just didn't live long enough to make it happen."

"I guess we'll never know."

"I hate that he had to die for us to finally figure things out, but I'll always be grateful for his meddling."

"He loved you like a son, Steve, both him and Mom," you told him with tears in your eyes.  "Most men would have killed the boy that was sleeping with their daughter, but not mine.  He did his best to keep us together, to make sure that we'd keep Wolf Creek going after he was gone.  It must have broken his heart to know that something he'd said caused you to doubt yourself, Steve."

"Why do you say that?"

"He wanted me and you to run this place, but he made sure that if I was too stubborn to forgive you, that you were the one to keep it."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing you forgave me, then isn't it?"

"This ranch isn't yours yet, mister.  We still have eight more months before the deeds and titles become mine.  I might let you keep your job. . ."

Steve whirled around to stand in front of you as he glared down at you.  "What do you mean, you might let me keep my job?"

You wrapped your arms around his neck as you gave his bottom lip a playful nip.  "I might have a few conditions of my own. . ."

His left hand glided down your back to give your ass a squeeze.  "And what might those be?"

"Well, first of all, I'm kicking you out of the foreman's cabin."

"And just where am I supposed to live?"

"I was thinking that you and I could redecorate the master bedroom in the main house and you could live there."

Steve let go of you and started backing away from you.  "Sorry, sweetheart, but that is not going to happen."

Completely confused you asked, "Why not?"

He shook his head at you as he took your hand again and continued walking.  "You rushed me once before, but not this time.  I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy and this time we're doing things my way.  I'm not moving in with you until you make an honest man out of me."

You rolled your eyes and bumped his hip with yours.  "Is that a marriage proposal?"

"Absolutely not," he said, looking down at you.  "Trust me, (Y/N), when I propose, you'll know it."


End file.
